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Do you find yourself swinging back and forth between good and bad days? One day you do everything “perfect” and the next day is a complete disaster? When you’re doing good, everything is easy and you’re making the right food choices, exercising and feeling great. When you’re doing bad, all the comfort foods sneak back in, the exercise goes out the window and the guilt and self-loathing starts creeping in. It’s a dangerous and slippery slope. Maybe you’ve even had good and bad weeks or good and bad months. The all-or-nothing game is not only unhealthy but it’s exhausting and it will never, ever work. Read that again: the all-or-nothing mentality does not work. Aren’t you ready to try a new approach and get out of the feeling of being trapped?

Why all-or-nothing doesn’t work

If you’ve started identifying certain foods as “good” or “bad,” then you’ve already assigned a negative energy to the “bad” foods. That means if YOU eat that food, you are also bad (in your subconscious mind that is). After all, anyone who is good will only eat good foods, right? If you’ve tried this road before, you already know the way it goes. No one can eat perfectly “good” all the time. So when you’re in the “good” phase and you eat a “bad” food, you’re already beating yourself up before you even clean up the plate. Then, the guilt, shame and negative self-talk starts. Why did I do that? Why did I mess up? Now I feel bad. Well, since I messed up a little, I might as all go for it. What other “bad” food do I want? And before you know it, you’re out of control and back in the “bad” day, week or month phase.

It’s a viscous cycle that will never be broken unless you start looking at your food and yourself in a different way. Because really, it’s not even about the food. It’s about you!

Stop the old thinking

Remember, the thoughts you have now are creating your future. Telling yourself that you’re not good enough hasn’t worked for years and will only set you up for a future of not feeling good enough. What if you are good enough right now? Get out of the negative self-talk. It will never serve your greater good and it will never help you feel better.

If you catch yourself slipping down the self-loathing slope, STOP your thought. Replace it with a more positive thought. Try these positiveaffirmations. Repeat over and over until you start to feel better:

I am who I am and who I am is okay!

Today is a new day and a new beginning, a chance to be whomever I want to be.

I let go of old limitations. I am at peace with myself. I am motivated!

I forgive those who have harmed me in my past and peacefully detach from them.

I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life.

Reward yourself (yes, it’s okay!)

This goes completely against where you were before so brace yourself. See your “good” foods as the nutrient-dense and health-filled choices you make every day to support your journey towards better health. Then, look at your “bad” foods as a reward food or comfort food to treat yourself for all the great work you’ve done all week.

Start with a “treat day” once a week. Choose one favorite drink and one favorite food. (No, you can’t fill your cart with a week’s worth of junk and gorge yourself all day. It doesn’t work like that!) Get the best quality and most expensive version of your favorite food because you deserve the very best. Eat that food with pride and joy.

Whoah! Stop right there! That’s a real head spinner if you’ve been beating yourself up for eating that “bad” food all these years. How can you suddenly be rewarded for something you always thought saw as your weakness or a mistake?

You’re only 100% human. No one is asking you to be 100% perfect. Do you know anyone who has never made a mistake? Forgive yourself for any and all mistakes you made in the past. You are worthy! The future is where your power lies. You’re doing the very best you can, and when you know more, you will do better! Changing the way you look at yourself will help you to change the way you look at your food, and that will also help you to change the way you look at yourself. Get it? 😉 Good!

You only get a treat day if you’ve done good all week. That’s how it works.

After 1 month, spread out your “treat day” to once every 2 weeks. You can also use your reward day for a party, wedding or special occasion, but in general it’s best to choose to same day, say Friday or Saturday. After 3 months, you’re ready to have just one treat day per month. Life is quite comfortable and joyful when you still occasionally get to indulge.

Remember, one treat day per month means that 353 days per year you are eating well. 12 days per year you’re rewarding yourself for a job well done. Over the course of your life, can you see where the power lies? You’re doing SO MUCH GOOD for your body and your health! Inhale, exhale. You can do this!

(Here’s the real secret: Over time, you won’t have to count your reward days because you will naturally make the right choices and eventually you won’t even want those reward foods anymore. It happens organically and easily when you change the way you think!)

4-hour or 4-minute or 4-second diets will never work because they keep you in the instant result mindset. Think healthy habits for a long and happy life instead!

How to stop the cycle

If you need a good reminder & support, print out the next section and put it on your fridge or vision board:

One raw food meal (salad, green juice or smoothie) per day is better than none.

You can’t get results if you don’t start. Sooner is better than later.

Never give up. Always try your best. If you get off track, go back to #1.

You can break the cycle of the all or nothing mentality. No one is born an expert. Everyone has to work hard to get results. But, you have to do the work and you have to work at it every day. It’s okay to reward yourself for a job well done. You are the master of your destiny. You have the power to create the life you want. Start by loving yourself …..and watch as the transformation unfolds.

http://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/halesunriseDsqd.jpg577577Jennifer Thompsonhttp://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/hb_logo_01.pngJennifer Thompson2015-04-26 05:39:322017-03-02 18:29:02Getting out of the All or Nothing mentality

Do you find yourself swinging back and forth between good and bad days? One day you do everything “perfect” and the next day is a complete disaster? When you’re doing good, everything is easy and you’re making the right food choices, exercising and feeling great. When you’re doing bad, all the comfort foods sneak back in, the exercise goes out the window and the guilt and self-loathing starts creeping in. It’s a dangerous and slippery slope. Maybe you’ve even had good and bad weeks or good and bad months. The all-or-nothing game is not only unhealthy but it’s exhausting and it will never, ever work. Read that again: the all-or-nothing mentality does not work. Aren’t you ready to try a new approach and get out of the feeling of being trapped?

Why all-or-nothing doesn’t work

If you’ve started identifying certain foods as “good” or “bad,” then you’ve already assigned a negative energy to the “bad” foods. That means if YOU eat that food, you are also bad (in your subconscious mind that is). After all, anyone who is good will only eat good foods, right? If you’ve tried this road before, you already know the way it goes. No one can eat perfectly “good” all the time. So when you’re in the “good” phase and you eat a “bad” food, you’re already beating yourself up before you even clean up the plate. Then, the guilt, shame and negative self-talk starts. Why did I do that? Why did I mess up? Now I feel bad. Well, since I messed up a little, I might as all go for it. What other “bad” food do I want? And before you know it, you’re out of control and back in the “bad” day, week or month phase.

It’s a viscous cycle that will never be broken unless you start looking at your food and yourself in a different way. Because really, it’s not even about the food. It’s about you!

Stop the old thinking

Remember, the thoughts you have now are creating your future. Telling yourself that you’re not good enough hasn’t worked for years and will only set you up for a future of not feeling good enough. What if you are good enough right now? Get out of the negative self-talk. It will never serve your greater good and it will never help you feel better.

If you catch yourself slipping down the self-loathing slope, STOP your thought. Replace it with a more positive thought. Try these positiveaffirmations. Repeat over and over until you start to feel better:

I am who I am and who I am is okay!

Today is a new day and a new beginning, a chance to be whomever I want to be.

I let go of old limitations. I am at peace with myself. I am motivated!

I forgive those who have harmed me in my past and peacefully detach from them.

I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life.

Reward yourself (yes, it’s okay!)

This goes completely against where you were before so brace yourself. See your “good” foods as the nutrient-dense and health-filled choices you make every day to support your journey towards better health. Then, look at your “bad” foods as a reward food or comfort food to treat yourself for all the great work you’ve done all week.

Start with a “treat day” once a week. Choose one favorite drink and one favorite food. (No, you can’t fill your cart with a week’s worth of junk and gorge yourself all day. It doesn’t work like that!) Get the best quality and most expensive version of your favorite food because you deserve the very best. Eat that food with pride and joy.

Whoah! Stop right there! That’s a real head spinner if you’ve been beating yourself up for eating that “bad” food all these years. How can you suddenly be rewarded for something you always thought saw as your weakness or a mistake?

You’re only 100% human. No one is asking you to be 100% perfect. Do you know anyone who has never made a mistake? Forgive yourself for any and all mistakes you made in the past. You are worthy! The future is where your power lies. You’re doing the very best you can, and when you know more, you will do better! Changing the way you look at yourself will help you to change the way you look at your food, and that will also help you to change the way you look at yourself. Get it? 😉 Good!

You only get a treat day if you’ve done good all week. That’s how it works.

After 1 month, spread out your “treat day” to once every 2 weeks. You can also use your reward day for a party, wedding or special occasion, but in general it’s best to choose to same day, say Friday or Saturday. After 3 months, you’re ready to have just one treat day per month. Life is quite comfortable and joyful when you still occasionally get to indulge.

Remember, one treat day per month means that 353 days per year you are eating well. 12 days per year you’re rewarding yourself for a job well done. Over the course of your life, can you see where the power lies? You’re doing SO MUCH GOOD for your body and your health! Inhale, exhale. You can do this!

(Here’s the real secret: Over time, you won’t have to count your reward days because you will naturally make the right choices and eventually you won’t even want those reward foods anymore. It happens organically and easily when you change the way you think!)

4-hour or 4-minute or 4-second diets will never work because they keep you in the instant result mindset. Think healthy habits for a long and happy life instead!

How to stop the cycle

If you need a good reminder & support, print out the next section and put it on your fridge or vision board:

One raw food meal (salad, green juice or smoothie) per day is better than none.

You can’t get results if you don’t start. Sooner is better than later.

Never give up. Always try your best. If you get off track, go back to #1.

You can break the cycle of the all or nothing mentality. No one is born an expert. Everyone has to work hard to get results. But, you have to do the work and you have to work at it every day. It’s okay to reward yourself for a job well done. You are the master of your destiny. You have the power to create the life you want. Start by loving yourself …..and watch as the transformation unfolds.

http://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/halesunriseDsqd.jpg577577Jennifer Thompsonhttp://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/hb_logo_01.pngJennifer Thompson2015-04-26 05:39:322017-03-02 18:29:02Getting out of the All or Nothing mentality

Are you typically the person who says “yes” and has a hard time saying “no”? If you feel guilty for saying no and are always saying yes to please others, then you’re probably already feeling the pinch of the “yes” trap and wishing you had a plan of escape. Read on…this could be one of the most important things you ever learn on your health journey!

What happens when you never say “No”

You might be the yes person who signs up for every class, race, charity event, adventure trip, and social outing to the point of feeling totally exhausted and in need of a holiday just to recover from too much social time. You could be the friend who is there for everyone, always putting your needs last and taking care of others. Or, you could be stuck in that feeling of “needing to do it all” and putting pressure on yourself to be the expert chef, perfect partner, ever-present friend, fitness guru, zen meditation seeker, yoga and pilates wonder-stretcher all while posting every moment on youtube, Instagram, Facebook, twitter and in blast emails to your family and friends while working a full time job and engaged in part time study and setting up your business on the side, all while doing a juice fast cleanse of course because you don’t have time for that at any other time of year!

Whew!! Can you see how quickly all your to-do items can snowball into a get me outta here feeling?!

Feeling Frustrated, Resentful and Overwhelmed

If you’re the person who is always first to help, offer, fix, mediate or organize things for others, you will quickly see that every time someone needs something, they’ll soon be knocking at your door. Or your email, Facebook, phone and door. If you’re simply taking on too much all the time, you can start to feel overwhelmed constantly. It won’t take long at all before you don’t have a single moment left for yourself.

Your initial enthusiasm for all your new hobbies or genuine desire to help others can quickly turn into anger, resentment and frustration. And guess what? Those energies are very bad for your health!

Most people have trouble managing their goals with how much time they realistically have in one day. Then, they feel so overwhelmed over where or how to start, so instead they do nothing. If that sounds like you, then it’s time to achieve a better balance and learn to start saying “No.”

How to say “No” (and without guilt!)

First, decide what you want. Yes, you get to decide! Don’t think of your friends or family or what anyone else thinks of you. What do you want and what is of most value to you? That’s where your focus and priorities should be.

Once you prioritize the areas of most importance, let go of the rest. Don’t feel you need to do it all! Remember, if you’ve done 10 things halfway, you’ve still done nothing! It’s impossible to do everything so let go of that pressure. Right now. And most importantly, release any guilt that may start to creep in once you make the choice.

How to actually say the word “no” can feel very difficult initially, especially if you’ve been a yes person your whole life. You might feel like peeping out a quiet no and then running for cover, for fear of what people might think or say. You’ve gotta let that bad feeling go, hold your head high and just do it! If you are really having a hard time, start by saying, “Can I get back to you on that?” This is a great tool to give yourself some space from the confrontation of saying no but without being roped into another unwanted yes. Some people need you to be the one to set boundaries with them, but you would never know it had you always said yes to their every request.

As you make the change from yes to no, release any guilt but also keep your compassion. You are allowed to be busy or not available and you don’t need to explain why. You can still say yes when you want, and that’s okay! But there is a wonderful sense of power in taking back your health and your life when you say no. Believe me, it feels so good after the first few times that you might want to start saying no to everything!

Benefits of Saying “No”

More time to do what’s important for you

More energy for your own health and healing

Increased self-esteem and confidence

More enthusiasm over the things that you do choose to do

Feeling that you’re on the right path (your path!) and in control of your destiny

Say “Yes” to Yourself!

The reward of starting this new practice is that you’re actually saying “yes” to yourself….that means more time for you to focus on what really matters to YOU. Time management is most definitely one of the keys to success in life. The sooner you realize that you need to be in control of how and with whom you spend your time, the better and healthier you will be. The only person that will make sure that you are achieving your own goals is YOU.

I’ve often thought to myself, “If I do that I will be achieving their goals, but those are not my goals.” Now, I don’t think like that about a minor thing like going out to the movies lol, but I will definitely make that consideration it in the case of a business proposition or a big life decision.

Remember to have the courage to follow your own path and not let others persuade you away.

Your homework: Practice saying “no” without guilt and make more time for the things YOU really want to do. You can achieve your goals… and you can start today!

It’s that time again! The new year is a GREAT opportunity to take advantage of the collective consciousness or universal wave of energy in making change. Think of “riding the mental wave” with the millions of other people in the world who have decided to improve their health. It’s a powerful and exciting time for a real reboot. What are your resolutions for the year? Do you want to get healthy, give up sugar or alcohol, lose weight, exercise more, travel, start a new relationship, change jobs, drink a green smoothie every day, do a detox (finally), eat a more alkaline diet or even start eating more vegan or raw foods? Any of those is achievable. Isn’t it time to live the life you really want? I say YES!

Your Mental Focus is Key to Your Success

How to achieve Your Goals

I’ve created the following tips based on working with thousands of clients over the new year holiday and observing which ones succeeded and which ones didn’t. I want you to be on the success side this year. My goal is to see you reach your highest potential, because life is SO much better when you feel good on the inside, knowing that you are achieving your goals!

1. Let yourself be 100% Human!

What that means is: It’s OKAY to make mistakes; It’s OKAY to get angry; It’s OKAY to feel frustrated; It’s OKAY to make mistakes; It’s OKAY to get scared; It’s OKAY to feel nervous; It’s OKAY to not know everything and once again It’s OKAY to make mistakes!!

The biggest reason WHY people fail is because they put too much pressure on themselves to be 100% perfect.

Look around you. Do you see ANYONE who is 100% PERFECT? Here’s a major secret for you: 100% perfect doesn’t exist! Ok, now that we got that out of the way, you can take a nice big inhale and then a huge exhale, and breathe a sigh of relief.

Now, turn your attention on being 100% HUMAN. In the human world, there’s this special thing called “good enough.” Running 1K a day, for example, is good enough if that’s all the time you have. Having one raw food meal per day is good enough if that’s where you feel comfortable. Bringing one new food into your diet per week is good enough if you feel too overwhelmed to change all of your diet at once. You are NOT a raw food failure if you are eating 99.9% raw food diet and you eat 0.01% cooked food. Same for vegan, paleo, helio or otherwise. Do you get it? Do you see where trying to be 100% perfect can stop you dead in your tracks before you even get on the field? Let go of that! When you love and accept yourself, life already feels better!

You have to start somewhere! The sooner you get comfortable with good enough, the sooner you’ll start.

It’s all about self-value, self-worth, self-love! All of your motivation and inspiration blossoms from there.

On the issue of anger, frustration and fear: Feeling a negative emotion is normal. The more you get in touch with your feelings, the more you can release negative emotions and make more room for forgiveness, acceptance, and unconditional love.

2. Every day, do a minimum of ONE thing

Loving yourself is just one part of success. You still have to do the work if you want to start seeing real change. Every day, you’ve gotta do something. If you think you don’t have time, you have to make the time.

What’s your list of goals? Is exercise on the list? Don’t trick yourself into thinking you need 2 hours at the gym on high cardio and anything less is a waste of time. (If you’re still thinking that, please re-read Step #1!) Are weekdays completely packed for you schedule-wise? Look deeper. Take the stairs to your Monday meeting. Make your Tuesday lunch date a one-hour walking session.On Wednesday, get up 15 minutes earlier and roll out the yoga mat for a quick stretch. On Thursday, bring a green smoothie and go for a 30-minute walk at lunch instead of eating out. Think of something new and different to do on Friday. Doing something is always better than doing nothing! 10 minutes is always better than 0 minutes, every single time!

A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. – Confucius

Once you make even a small amount of time for preparing food at home, exercising, taking a new class or starting a new project, you’ll be surprised how much easier it becomes to continue. Doing one small task every day is the key!

3. Stop comparing yourself to the person next to you

Watch out for the comparison danger zone! It’s all too easy to scroll through social media pics of everyone else’s awesome, picture-perfect life and start feeling less and less capable, motivated or courageous. Realize that what see will merely be a reflection of where you feel less confident in your own life, whether it’s your weight, your hair, your house, your partner or something else. Remember this: what you see and what someone else sees are two different things. So in reality, it’s all an illusion and just a thought or opinion that you’ve created in your mind. That means you can change this thought to a better thought, one that is loving and supportive of YOU!

Spending your time comparing yourself to someone else is only going to do 2 things: 1) it wastes energy that you could be using on yourself right now and 2) it’s an never-ending road of not feeling good enough that will never make you feel good. Choose healthy role models for inspiration and motivation but steer clear of the comparison game.

4. Stop trying to please everyone

You want the quickest, fastest, surest way to have absolutely zero energy left for yourself? Just give all your time and energy freely to everyone and anyone! Word will get out fast, and before you know it, you’ll have a line around the corner and more on the way. I guarantee that in no time, you’ll feel completely overwhelmed and exhausted. You may even start to feel resentful. After all, with all that pleasing, you didn’t have 5 minutes for yourself all year! How dare they! Wait…… they? or you?

Here’s an example: Imagine driving to see your friends. You stop to pick up a hitch-hiker, then another one, and then another one (in reality, you don’t need to pick up strangers, this is just an example!). The first one wants to go left, and the other one wants to go right. It’s not that far and you feel bad so you go over there and then back again and over there and you take everyone exactly where they want to go. They are thrilled of course! But, you lost track of time and now you’re late for dinner. Not only are your friends disappointed because you missed the meal, but all the food is gone and you’re left feeling hungry. Perhaps you could have helped one person and made it on time, and that would have been totally OKAY and not selfish in any way! Or, you could have simply said NO.

Learning How to Say No is probably one of the hardest things for a lot of people to do (and not feel guilty about it either!). You can help people of course, but you cannot help everyone all the time; otherwise there’s no time left for you. This is all about honoring yourself!

5. Stay Focused on YOUR goals

Remember, if you do 10 things halfway, you’ve still done nothing! Whatever your goal, stay focused on it. Don’t fall into the trap of doing this and that and then jumping over there to give that a go too. If you’ve got limited time in your day (which everyone I know does), then you don’t have time to waste. Discipline and time management are the keys to success in any realm.

Write your goals for the year on a piece of paper and put it in a place where you see it every day. Check in with yourself every week – are you still on track or did you start to veer into an entirely different place? You entered your goals into your virtual GPS, now you’ve gotta drive the route to get there and it’s up to you to stay on course!

http://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/successD800.jpg455800Jennifer Thompsonhttp://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/hb_logo_01.pngJennifer Thompson2015-01-04 07:40:262015-12-29 22:08:095 Things You can do to Start Your New Year RIGHT!

Friends, it’s time for ANOTHER FREE giveaway! A big Thank You to Blendtec Blenders for believing in the power of Green Smoothies and offering a FREE Blendtec 3HP blender to one of my lucky followers!

Blendtec Blender Giveaway ($549 Value): The Details

Someone’s getting a new 3HP BLENDTEC blender for the NEW YEAR, ready to make Green Smoothies for many years to come! Here’s what we’ve got in this FREE giveaway for you:

1 Blendtec Blender + My NEW Book: Green Smoothies for Dummies

Your chance to WIN a FREE Blendtec Designer 675 blender!

How to Join: Blendtec Blender Giveaway

1. RaffleCopter is organizing this Giveaway…so CLICK BELOW to SIGN UP. The more tasks you complete in RaffleCopter, the greater your chances are to WIN!

There are 3 tasks in the Raffle which are mandatory in order to win:
1 and 2. Follow us on Twitter – @rawfoodbliss and @blendtec
3. Leave a comment below – answering the question: What is your FAVORITE recipe book, DVD or inspirational/success story/diet book that has helped you in your HEALTH JOURNEY?

Additional tasks are optional, but if you complete them, you increase your chance to win. Good Luck!

An intuitive control surface adds a modern flair to any kitchen. It’s illuminated to be easy to see and simple to use. It lights up with a single touch and shuts off automatically. Plus, its completely flat design is easy to completely clean.

8-Speed Touch Slider + Pulse

Get precision speed control for 8 speeds with the slide of a finger. Use Pulse to add a standalone burst of power—great for chopping and light mixing.

Green Smoothies for Dummies book: The Details

The winner of this giveaway is also going to get a FANTASTIC recipe book for making the best Green Smoothies ever….! In Green Smoothie for Dummies, I created a “bible” for the best green smoothie making, and it’s all based on what I learned from teaching Green Smoothie classes for years. Every question that any student has ever asked me is in this book! Find plenty of other recipes and healthy tips too…everything from the best way to clean your blender to how to store your superfoods and the top myths about Green Smoothies debunked. There are green smoothie recipes for toddlers, kids, teenagers, adults, pregnancy, breast-feeding, working out, weight loss, skin, digestion, boosting your immune system, healing after illness….and so much more. You’ll be amazed at how much you can do with your NEW sexy Blendtec Blender!

The WINNER of this giveaway will receive a FREE Blendtec Blender PLUS a copy of my Green Smoothies for Dummies Book (with over 90 recipes!).

Your chance to WIN a FREE Blendtec Designer 675 professional blender!

Answer this question in the comments below:

What is your FAVORITE recipe book, DVD or inspirational/success story book

that has helped you in your HEALTH JOURNEY?

(My answer: Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life – book AND DVD, love them BOTH!)

Your comment will not appear immediately as all comments are moderated for spam before approval.

Are you looking for something different than another salad? Or looking to bring an eye-catching and mouth-watering dish to your next raw food potluck or healthy picnic? Try this recipe for Raw Zucchini Rolls and your friends and family will simply be amazed at how delicious healthy food can be. And of course, it’s gluten-free!

I actually threw this dish together with what I had at home one day not using any recipe at all. That’s the beauty of learning how to cook – once you know the basics, you can use your creativity to make just about anything you want! My goal was to have a nice finger-food raw food platter. I saw that I had a lot of organic zucchini, so I said, hmmmm…I can make zucchini rolls, now what to put inside? First I made the tomato sauce and it was yummy, but I felt like it needed more texture. So, I made the walnut pesto. Then, I decided to top it off with some smooth and creamy raw cashew nut cheese and this gorgeous gourmet-looking raw pasta dish was born!

You can make this yourself at home. You will need either a blender or a mini-food processor, about 3-4 large organic zucchinis and the following ingredients:

Walnut Pesto Ingredients

1 1/2 cup raw organic walnuts

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup organic fresh basil leaves (or cilantro)

1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Dash of Himalayan Salt

Raw Tomato Sauce Ingredients

2 cups organic tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-2 raw garlic cloves

1/2 tsp. organic dried oregano leaves

1/4 tsp. organic dried basil leaves

1/4 tsp. organic cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp. raw apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. raw organic honey (optional)

Dash of Himalayan Salt

Raw Cashew Cheese Ingredients

2 cups organic raw unsalted cashews

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Dash of organic cumin powder

Dash of organic cayenne pepper

Dash of Himalayan Salt

How To Make a Raw Zucchini Rolls

1. Make the Walnut Pesto: Add the ingredients into a mini food processor or blender and pulse several times until the mixture is course but uniform in texture. Set aside in a glass container, covered and refrigerated for at least 2-3 hours to marinate.

2. Make the Tomato Sauce: Add the ingredients into a mini food processor or blender and pulse several times until the mixture is course but uniform in texture. Set aside in a glass container, covered and refrigerated for at least 2-3 hours to marinate.

3. Make the Cashew Cheese: Add the ingredients into a mini food processor or blender and blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth in texture. Set aside in a glass container, covered and refrigerated for at least 2-3 hours to marinate.

4. When you are ready to serve, prepare the zucchini strips: Peel the outer skin of each zucchini (the skin can have a bitter taste but also looks more like real “pasta” without the skin). Then use a peeler, mandolin or knife to cut the zucchini into flat strips.

5. Using one zucchini strip at a time, place 1 spoonful of tomato sauce and 1 spoonful of walnut pesto on the strip, then roll the strip, securing it with a toothpick. Top each zucchini roll with a dollop of cashew cheese and a small sliver of fresh basil leaf for decoration.

6. Serve on a plate of lettuce, with loving intention to share the gift of good health!

Note:If you are vegan, you can replace the raw organic honey with agave nectar or a dash of organic stevia powder.

For more on how to start a raw food diet, how to do a detox at home or what minerals you may specifically be deficient in, book a private health consult with me via Skype.

How to Book Your Health & Nutritional Coaching Session:

1. Take photos of your eyes with a digital camera.
2. Email the photos to me for approval.
3. We schedule a time to meet via phone or Skype!

Have you seen the movie The Secret? By now, everyone has watched it, it’s old news and the “Law of Attraction” has already come and gone as a passing fad. But wait! It actually does work and I’m going to share an amazing story which will hopefully lift your spirits and keep you thinking about setting your goals and intentions for this life.

Power of Positive Thinking, Affirmations, Manifestation – that’s The Secret!

The Law of Attraction works like this: Focus your mind on what you want instead of what you don’t want, and watch the universe actually start to fill your mental orders. Suddenly it’s easier to meet the people you need to meet and to be at the right place at the right time to find what you were looking for and on and on it goes…creating the life that you want with the very power of your thoughts. Manifesting, setting goals and intentions, visualization and guided meditation all are ways to use the Law of Attraction. Since most people are too busy thinking about what they don’t want in life, they simply attract more of what they don’t want: bad relationships, money problems, dead-end jobs, and daily struggles. As Esther Hicks says in the film, “what you put your mind to becomes a reality.” Change the way you think, and your life will change.

The Secret DVD

How did it work for me? I first watched The Secret 7 years ago when I was living in a bungalow on the beach in Thailand. Someone brought me the original movie from the USA before it become mainstream and said, “Jennifer, you have to watch this…it’s amazing!” I looked at the cover with this special writing and I was excited to find out what was the secret! I watched the stories of creating vision boards and seeing years later as things came true, and I thought, “Wow, I want to try that!” It sounded so cool, and after all, I had nothing to lose!

The next step was to decide, well what do I want? That can be a hard question actually! Do you focus on small things, big things…where do you begin? And I remembered the story from the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy and he dreamed of getting his first big paycheck. I think he even wrote a fake check to himself just to hang on the wall. So I thought ok, I can do something like that. And this is what I did:

After watching The Secret, I created this Best Seller List for my vision board

Yes, this New York Times Bestseller list is FAKE. I made it for my vision board! I decided to put myself at the #1 spot on the chart as a way to motivate myself to write a book, and of course become a successful author too! I simply went online and found a current bestseller list, and with a quick print screen and change in photoshop, I instantly got to the top of the book charts. Well, in my mind! I have to laugh at myself because I even put a fake date on it – I decided to hit the bestseller list on the day before my birthday as a gift to myself…I gave myself a few years to complete the project and picked the year 2011.

Remember: According to The Secret, you don’t have to know how you are going to do something or when you are going to get something, you just have to know that it will happen.

So here’s the amazing thing. I printed this bestseller jpg and I hung it on my wall in my office/bungalow/house. Every day when I sat at my desk I would see my name and my book with the red circle around it and take a minute to visualize my success. Clients and friends who came to my house would sometimes notice it and say, “Wow, Jennifer I didn’t know you wrote a book!” I used to laugh and say, “Well…not yet. That’s part of my vision board.”

Over time, the paper started to get dirty and worn. I lived right on the beach so it was hard to keep things looking clean. About 2 years later I took the picture down, but I kept it in my files. And honestly, I totally and completely forgot about it.

Fast-forward to present day, another 5 years later, and my best friend is now totally into The Secret, watching it all the time. She’s putting signs in her house that say “We got another check!” and “We made another sale!” and her online sales have been going through the roof (she sells stuff on ebay and amazon). Every few days, she tells me another success story from her positive affirmations. And I laugh.. It’s fun! But still, I had totally forgotten my little vision board that I created years before.

Then, the unexpected happened. Or the expected…depending on which camp you are in! I arrived to Israel after many months of traveling through Central and South America with no real plan for work besides my Skype consultations and eBook sales, moving to one of the most expensive cities in the world – Tel Aviv – thinking “what am I going to do here?” Yeah, I know…I am an existential stream-of-consciousness type of being. Not many people can live like me!

Within 5 days of arriving to Israel, I received an email from a publisher in New York, USA. Out of the blue! The email said: “We want to talk to you about writing a book on Green Smoothies. Let’s meet ASAP.” Well, Ok! We had a phone meeting and several emails went back and forth, then I proposed a Table of Contents and a Partial Sample Chapter, and 3 months later I received the contracts in the mail to sign with Wiley Publishers for my first book deal ever, with an advance!

A book on the same exact subject I entered in that New Your Times Bestseller list: Green Smoothies!!!!

What you focus your mind on becomes reality…that’s the power of the Secret!

Even at that point, I still had forgotten about my old vision board. It wasn’t until I was in the middle of a conversation with my friend about all of her manifested ebay sales when I thought, “WAIT!” I think I made something about writing a book! I had to dig through my old computer backup files since the computer I used had long since passed away, but sure enough, I found the New York Times jpg! What you see is exactly what I made 7 years ago.

I hadn’t seen that jpg in years, but there it was….and I really had to say “Thank You!” to myself for creating such a clear and strong vision and for having the faith to take a leap and put the power of creating in my mind. Wow!

So, do I fail if I do not make it to #1 on the NYT bestseller list? I don’t think so and I hope you don’t think so either! It’s like the Chicken Soup guy…I think his first check was a few thousand below what he visualized, but was he upset? No way! He was over the moon to see his dreams realized! And I am too! The only way to explain what and why this happened is from that original seed that I planted in my mind. And if not, well, it’s a good story to tell and share!

I’ve now gotta write a 288 page book and I’m nervous and excited but I know that my mind is the key to get this job completed on time and to write something that will help others in their journey to enjoying Green Smoothies and better health and well-being as a result.

And yes, I am now working on a new vision board to create some new and exciting manifestations ahead!!

You can create your own vision board at home. First, think about what you want to achieve or how you want to feel. Really allow yourself to feel that you have already achieved that goal. Start by cutting out pictures or printing out sayings and add them to your board. Put the board in a place that you can see it for at least a few minutes every day. When you look at your board, align your thoughts with the images or words and allow yourself to feel the feeling of accomplishment. Soon, you will be celebrating your success too!

And here’s the book: Green Smoothie for Dummies

I “wrote the book” on Green Smoothies, literally!

Sip your way to ultimate nutrition and feel better than ever!

Whether you’re looking to detox, lose weight, or just add more veggies to your diet, green smoothies are the way to go. Easy to prepare, portable, and endlessly customizable, green smoothies are the trendy new beverage in everyone’s cup. Green smoothies are the easiest, most painless way to add more nutrients to your diet, so you can feel better than ever before.

Green Smoothies For Dummies is your beginner’s guide to the world of drinkable greens. Author and international smoothie guru Jennifer Thompson explains the benefits of green smoothies, and provides over 100 recipes that will make you start craving your vegetables. You’ll get to know the flavors and properties of each ingredient, and how to combine ingredients for complete nutrition. Available on amazon.com or the iTunes store.

Other good books on the Law of Attraction are by Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles and Esther Hicks:

Do you have a good Law of Attraction success story? I look forward to reading your comments below!

http://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/jennifer_nyt-list.jpg320500Jennifer Thompsonhttp://healthybliss.net/bliss/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/hb_logo_01.pngJennifer Thompson2013-11-27 12:54:182015-12-30 13:21:59How I got a Book Deal using the Law of Attraction

Paul Bragg is known as the “Father of the Health Movement in America.” Born in 1895, he was crippled as a teenager with Tuberculosis (TB) and managed to cure himself through eating organic foods, water fasting and juice fasting, exercising and practicing breathing techniques. From there, he went on to spread the word about nutrition and health, and become a health advisor to Hollywood Stars and Olympics athletes.

He is known for opening the first Health Food Store in America, being the first person to introduce pineapple juice and tomato juice to America, and the first to introduce and distribute honey and date sugar nationwide. His books Miracle of Fasting, Bragg’s Healthy Lifestyle and Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System have all been inspirational books for me in my health journey. The Bragg’s Raw Apple Cider Vinegar and Nutritional Yeast are 2 items I always have in my kitchen, and I use the Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids occasionally (although it is high in salt and should be used sparingly).

One thing I love about Paul Bragg’s books is that they are full of great motivational health quotes. These quotes are all from his book Awaken Health and Happiness published in 1937, and yes, you can see how all of it still applies perfectly today!

Motivational Health Quotes from Paul Bragg

Quotes from Paul Bragg, the Father of the Health Movement in America

“I have the power to know what my body will do, of what my mind is capa­ble, the gen­eros­ity of my heart, and the great­ness of my soul. I will make this known in its true light to all the world.”

“I care not what oth­ers may think, except in so far as I can help them to make their thoughts beautiful.”

“I seek my true self. I know that within me lie dor­mant pow­ers that I have never before real­ized.”

“I know not the mean­ing of sick­ness or ill feel­ing. The life force within me has healed me and made me whole.”

“I feel this clean blood of youth cours­ing through my veins. It is more joy­ous than any glad­ness of youth I have ever before expe­ri­enced.”

“The life force within me is feed­ing my strength- strength of body, soul, and mind.”

“My enthu­si­asm cre­ates new vis­tas, new thoughts, new ideals. It is reawak­en­ing my entire body and mind.”

“I feel that true hap­pi­ness of spirit that radi­ates from the pure soul.”

“My soul is express­ing itself in the cre­ation of new beauty and of hap­pi­ness for oth­ers.”

“I am intent upon the progress of my soul and will go for­ward.”

“I would no more adul­ter­ate my soul with mean­ness that I would my body with poi­so­nous foods. I strive for ulti­mate purity.”

“I purge my soul of weak­ness, for in strength only can I find peace and unity with the Divine Mind.”

“I will not yield to anx­i­ety, because my strength of char­ac­ter pre­cludes doubt and worry. I am in har­mony with the Divine law.”

“I feel a kind­li­ness toward my fellow-man that is all-embracing. It com­pletes the har­mony of my being.”

“Jeal­ousy shall be put away. It is incom­pat­i­ble with any part of my being.”

“Beau­ti­ful life is revealed to me, because I have gained strength through beauty of moral pur­pose.”

“This day I purge myself of anger. I will acknowl­edge no weak­ness. My body is strong enough to sus­tain my poise in any crisis.”

“No accom­plish­ment is too great for me to mas­ter, for I am com­pletely bal­anced and at one with all things.”

“I will think right. A malig­nant thought has the same rela­tion to the char­ac­ter as does as does a malig­nant growth to the body.”

“I will use my suc­cess for the great good of myself and all mankind.”

“I know the power of peace. I have achieved deep contentment.”

“My body is free from the shack­les of pain and illness.”

“I do not have to wait for inspi­ra­tion to accom­plish my plans. Inspi­ra­tion is within me and I have the power to bring it forth.”

“My under­stand­ing brings me knowl­edge of things ignored by other men. I will use them for my ben­e­fit and for the ben­e­fit of all mankind.”

“I know that my under­stand­ing of love can sus­tain me in all my rela­tions with my fellow-man.”

“I will not be sat­is­fied to rise one step only. My life will become a con­stant pro­gression of power.”

There is some controversy over Bragg’s claim of being 95 years old at the time of his death in 1976 because his birth records indicate he was actually 81 at the time. This, in my opinion, does not take away all the beauty and value of what he created and how he transformed the lives of so many with his wisdom and knowledge about health. I mean, come on, how many people still lie about their age? It’s not for me to judge, and I know that I have benefited from understanding the healing power of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar thanks to Paul Bragg, so I thank him for all of his great work!

Get more great health quotes in the Daily Bliss app!

If you like my quotes, you’ll love my new app ‘Daily Bliss‘, available in the iTunes store. Get a daily reminder to stay focused on your goals, be positive and loving and allow yourself to shine as the beautiful soul that you are!

Get your daily dose of motivation with a new health quote for every day of the year!

If you want to know the best way to do something, you find a successful person and ask them how they did it, right?

That’s exactly what researchers have done in search of the healthiest places in the world to live, also known as ‘Blue Zones,’ a term coined by demographers who started mapping out areas of the world where people live measurably longer lives. Two noteworthy books of interest have been written on the subject: The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer by Dan Buettner and Healthy at 100 by John Robbins. I’ve recently found myself drawn more and more to explore what secrets our elders hold in finding the real truth to an anti-aging diet, or a longevity diet or a ‘youthgevity’ diet…probably terms that our elders at 90 years of age and older have never even heard of!

Healthy at 100 by John Robbins

The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer

Especially in answering countless questions from workshops and talks around the world, a large portion which involve questions such as ‘what’s the BEST food for (insert dis-ease name here)’ or ‘what’s the BEST supplement I need to take’ or ‘what food will help me (insert goal here: lose weight, be happy, feel great, clear skin, gain energy, cure constipation, improve eyesight, increase fertility, reduce anxiety, etc. etc. etc.),’ I can see from a wider perspective that, well, basically, people are just not getting it! No one food creates disease and no one food cures it either! We have to start looking at the diet and lifestyle as a whole to start getting the results we want.

We all know that no one can eat a handful of watercress and become instantly cured!

I hope you can agree with me there. People don’t want to hear that they may have to make long-term changes to their diet and lifestyle in order to get long-term results, especially in this fast-fix world that’s programmed to appease all instant gratification requests. And, if you try the ‘magic pill method’ by taking every new Dr. Oz must-have supplement, after one year of watching Dr. Oz every day you will need to take 365 supplements per day in order to keep up! Clearly, that doesn’t seem like the best approach to real health!

So, what is it? How do we find the key to Longevity and Happiness?

Healthy at 100 by John Robbins

Healthy at 100 discusses several of the more known but perhaps under-documented world Blue Zones such as the Hunza Valley in Pakistan and Vilcabamba, Ecuador (where I am currently staying for 2 months by the way!) and also discusses more well-documented Blue Zones such as Okinawa, Japan. When I say ‘documented,’ that means being able to prove the person’s identity and being able to verify their date of birth with local birth records, so we can say with absolutely certainty that the centenarian (a person who lives over 100) who lives there is really a centenarian.

Blue Zone vs. SAD Diet

The main difference between a Blue Zone diet and a Standard American Diet (SAD) is that the Blue Zone cultures eat no refined sugar and no refined carbohydrates; and instead eat plenty of whole grains and many vegetables grown locally and in season, and they incorporate healing foods and superfoods into their diet naturally. According to John Robbins, the author of Heathy at 100, “Vegetables play a prominent role in the Hunzan diet, particularly greens, including mustard greens, spinach and lettuce, root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, potatoes, and radishes, an assortment of beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, and other sprouted legumes. They cultivate many kinds of herbs for both culinary and medicinal purposes, including mint and thyme. They grow flaxseeds, and rare is the meal that does not contain freshly ground flaxmeal in one form or another. In Hunza, a large part of the diet is eaten uncooked.”

He goes on to explain, “In the summer, as much as 80% of the food is eaten in its natural state. Vegetables in season are picked just prior to consumption and almost always eaten raw. Fresh corn on the bob, for example, is never cooked. In the winter, Hunzans soak lentils, beans and peas in water for several days, then lay them out on wet cloths in the sun. They are eaten raw when they begin to sprout.”

The view from my house in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, an ‘unofficial’ Blue Zone

Exercise also plays a huge role in the anti-aging process. Every area that was researched highlighted daily exercise as an integral part of life, and the people know that this is one of their secrets to vibrant health. “So great is the recognition of the healing power of walking to visit a friend that there is a saying in Vilcabamba that each of us has two ‘doctors’ – the left leg and the right leg,” writes John Robbins.

What’s happening in the good ‘ol USA

How many of us numb ourselves with cigarettes, tranquilizers, drugs, alcohol, or unhealthful diets in an effort to escape how isolated we feel?

How many of us become chronic workaholics or become preoccupied by other unhealthy obsessions in an attempt to avoid the inner barrenness caused by the breakdown of relationships, family and community?

He adds, “Many of the traditional Okinawan proverbs about eating sound like phrases you might find on the wall of a health food stores in the West. One such proverb translates as “Food should nourish life – this is the best medicine.” And another: “One who eats whole food will be strong and healthy.” If North Americans lived more like the elder Okinawans, we would have to close 80% of the coronary care units and 1/3 of the cancer wards in the United States, and a lot of nursing homes would also be out of business.”

Hmmm, that sounds pretty good to me!

Top 5 Secrets for Longevity and Anti-Aging from Healthy at 100

1. Eat many colors. Foods’ natural colors are not just treats for the eye but also signs of important nutrients such as antioxidants.
2. When you crave something crunchy, try raw vegetables or nuts instead of salty chips.
3. Avoid heating oils to the smoking point. For the fat in your diet, eat walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, avocados and other nuts and seeds.
4. Shun trans-fatty acids. Stay away from margarine, vegetable shortening, commercial pastries, deep-fried food, and most prepared snacks and convenience foods.
5. Don’t pollute your body. Don’t eat junk food. Go to your kitchen cupboard and get rid of any food products that no longer serve your potential to be radiantly fit and healthy.

The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer

Now, let’s look at the Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer, and see what Dan Buettner, the author, discovered after traveling to 5 current and documented world Blue Zones: Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, the Seventh-Day Adventists community in Southern California USA, and Ikaria in Greece.

“Good Years” is a Very Important Concept

In the book, Robert Kane point out that, “there are two issues here. How long can I live? The other is: How well can I live? And those are different questions. Living an extra two years on life support may not necessarily be your goal. Yes, “Good Years” is a very important concept.”

“You’ve got a bunch of people who are professing to be physicians or scientists, who are saying that they can stop or reverse the aging process. I will tell you that real scientists cannot do such a thing, so what makes the public think that these people can?” asks Tom Perls.

Things that Successful CentenariansDon’t Do

They don’t get plastic surgery or botox i.e. get unnecessary surgeries which can weaken their immune system; They don’t watch excessive amounts of television; They don’t complain, gossip or criticize others; They don’t worry or stress about the small things; They don’t overeat. In Japan, they say “Hara hachi bu” before each meal. This is a Confucian-inspired saying that means “Eat until your are 80 percent full.”

Things that Successful Centenarians Do

They eat natural, whole and pure foods high in flavonoids and natural anti-oxidants; They eat simple, non-processed local foods; They exercise as part of their daily routine, usually walking long distances (more than 2 miles and up to 6 miles) every day; They incorporate healing foods like turmeric, ginger and mugwort into their daily diet; They maintain a sense of purpose, keep a sense of humor and they have a positive outlook on life; They keep the family unit together, taking care of elders within the family even at the later stages in life (that’s the power of love!).

Top 5 Secrets for Longevity and Anti-Aging from The Blue Zones Book

1. Eat more plants (i.e. leafy greens)! While not all centenarians are vegetarians, they all eat a very high vegetable and fruit-based diet with variety in whole nuts, seeds and grains. If they eat meat or fish, it’s only on occasion and not in the daily diet. They also eat simple meals with only whole, natural ingredients.
2. Stay active. Get outside and walk every day. Work on a small outdoor garden. Getting regular, low-intensity exercise like daily walks appears to help reduce your chances of having heart disease and certain cancers.
3. Have a sense of purpose and keep hard at work. Successful centenarians feel needed and want to contribute to a greater good. They enjoy physical work all of their lives (i.e. no couch potatoes!!).
4. Drink fresh herbal teas made from peppermint, oregano, rosemary, chamomile or sage on a daily basis. Add healing foods like fresh turmeric and ginger to your diet. This helps your body detoxify on a regular basis, naturally!
5. Take time to rest and fast occasionally. The Seventh-Day Adventists practice a weekly Sabbath or day of rest to spend time with the family and re-connect with nature. In Greece, The Ikarians traditionally follow the Greek Orthodox Christian calendar which calls for periodic fasting throughout the year.

Caloric restriction -a type of fasting that cuts about 30 percent of calories out of the normal diet -is the only proven way to slow the aging process in mammals.

How to Create your ‘Personal Blue Zone’

1. Eat a high-raw food organic and nutrient-dense diet.

2. Minimize stress. Laugh More. Enjoy each day!

3. Exercise daily – get out and move.

4. Form friendships and meaningful relationships.

5. Have a sense of purpose with your life.

Or, as Michael Pollan said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Your Happiness and Longevity Matters!

So there you have it! Everything this website and my life’s work is all about will help you to lead a healthy happy, long enjoyable disease-free life! Let’s keep supporting each other on our journeys enjoying good health and a happy life!

1. No Gossip!

Gossip feeds negative energy and that’s not a healthy frequency for healing! Speaking positively of others brings more alkalinity, joy and peace to you.

2. Clean out the pantry.

Get rid of any old food that will not serve the New Healthy You for 2013. Organize your kitchen.

3. Make Time for Your Health.

No one is going to do it for you! Find 30 minutes per day to read an inspirational book or go for a brisk walk. Do it every day!!

4. Seek out Support.

Find a local raw food potluck to make new local, healthy friends. If there isn’t one in your area, then start one yourself! A great place to find raw food and vegan groups is on meetup.com.

5. Forgive Yourself!

Let go of mistakes in the past. You ARE worthy of being loved for everything you are now in this very moment! You are who you are and that is ok!

6. Daily Green Smoothie!

Make a goal to have 1 Green Smoothie per day as a replacement meal for 2013. A Green Smoothie for breakfast sets you up for a healthy day every day!

7. Weekly Green Smoothie day.

If you do a one-day per week detox, after 7 years you will have done an entire year of 100% raw food detox! Just one day a week, have a 100% Green Smoothie Day as a mini-cleanse and reboot.

8. Floss Your Teeth!

Bleaching does not give you good teeth, Eating more raw foods and flossing every day does. Daily flossing reduces inflammation and bacteria in the mouth.

9. Be Kind Online.

Being tired, stressed and toxic can lead people to have a different persona online. Treat everyone in every tweet, comment and email with the same courtesy and kindness as you would to their face.

10. Stay Alkaline!

An alkaline-pH is the basis to good health. The most alkaline-forming foods: Fresh fruits and vegetables. The most acid-forming food: Aspartame. Replace chewing gum with a sprig of fresh parsley or mint.

Spending the last 2 months in the USA has made me realize how much people need to create peace within the borders of their own country. Being out of the US for 11 years has been a wonderful blessing because I’ve had the fortune to live a simple, clean, healthy life. After just a few weeks here, I felt over-stimulated with drug advertisements, fear mongering news and materialistic reality shows. When ‘Honey Boo Boo’ is the No. 1 show watched in the US and over 5 million iphones are sold in 3 days, we are clearly in need of serious spiritual re-alignment.

According to Dr. Gabriel Cousens, peace within the body is the first level of awareness. From the Essene of the Gospel of the Peace, Book 4:

“First Shall the Son of Man seek Peace with his own body,
for his body is a mountain pond that
reflects the sun when it is still and clear;
but when it is full of mud and stones, it reflects nothing.”

Broadcast Mental Waves of Bliss

With the end of 2012 nearing, it is now more important than ever to develop and maintain a spiritual practice, focusing on love, health and peace. Early morning is a good time to take advantage of the stillness of your mind. Say to yourself, “I am healthy. I am happy. I am grateful. I live in a peaceful world full of healthy and happy people. I send joy and spiritual waves of health and peace to every living being on this planet.” Keep your thoughts positive and imagine the world that you want to live in, a world without gossip, bullying, violence or hate.

As much as you possibly can, avoid mindless television. Set a limit for how much tv you will watch every week, and stay committed to it. Try to post only positive, uplifting information on Facebook and Twitter. Go to your local library and get health and spiritual books. Dedicate 30 minutes every day to developing your mental state into that still and clear mountain pond. Use the time to read, listen to a spirtual CD, watch a health DVD, join a Reiki group, or simply spend time watching a sunset or being with your loved ones. Don’t let this time slip away. Every day is a gift and your health is the greatest gift of all.

I’ve been saying this for awhile now: Our role as pioneers of health, raw food and detox is to become a beacon of love, to help the world transition into a new age. Imagine millions of beacons of love around the globe, staying grounded and focused during these turbulent times, using the most powerful force know in this universe- love, to guide the way. The ancient Essenes taught us to seek Peace within ourselves first. Now, more than ever, is the time to do so.

Taking the time to do a detox is a commitment to health. The money spent is an investment in your future. Energies used to travel are well worth the effort.

Finally, you have the opportunity to recharge, rebuild, cleanse and heal.

With a ‘reboot,’ moving forward, you can continue with positive change in all areas of your life. With all things considered, don’t you want to get the most out of your detox?

A few simple tips can help you maximize your results.

Eliminate Salt for 1-week before

Don’t forget to do your work at home. It doesn’t matter how mant fasts you’ve done; everyone needs to prepare correctly for a detox just the same.

For at least 7 days before the start of your program, eliminate all salt from the diet. Keep in mind that most salt is hidden in foods and not actually added. Look out for restaurant food, airplane food, sauces, salad dressings, curries, pickled foods and packaged snacks.

Having no salt in the diet allows the body to start loosening built-up plaque and toxins in the colon. A no-salt diet for 14 days as a pre-cleanse is ideal, but at a minimum, try to commit to 7 days. By doing so, you will maximize your results during the detox.

Bring Herbal Teas

Most detox programs offer various fresh juices in addition to herbs and detox drinks. They also allow for herbal teas using fresh or dried herbs, but often charge more for tea or may not mention that organic herbal teas are permitted. Herbal teas support the organs during the cleansing process, and even better, they provide a nice flavor to enjoy while fasting!

Be sure to buy organic and bring a variety of flavors to choose from. Peppermint or ginger tea are great for nausea. Turmeric tea is very cleansing for the liver and tastes delicious! Parsley or uva ursi tea help to support the kidneys. Juniper berry tea is excellent for the heart and circulation. Coriander tea supports heavy metal detoxification. All can be bought as dried tea bags at any local health food store.

Avoid Gossip, Drama & Violence

Many people successfully achieve the physical act of detox, but leave behind the emotional and spiritual sides. I can’t even count how many nights over the years that I’ve seen a tv room packed with fasters, all eyes fixed on a horror flick or violent drama. How can the body let go and heal when the mind is being distracted with such images?

Be careful, especially when doing a detox, to avoid negative talk, images, news and events. The body is so sensitive while cleansing. The more you surround yourself with positive energy, motivational stories, happy people and inspiring thoughts, the more your body, mind and spirit will benefit.

Negative energies can attach to toxins in the body. The more you let go of those thoughts, the deeper you can go in your cleansing. It’s true! For more information on the science of this, I recommend Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief of Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life.

Get Adequate Rest

Most detox programs offer a full day of activities to choose from, including meditation, yoga, group walks, tai chi, chi gung, pilates, water therapy, massage, colonics, nutrition talks and more. It’s easy to get quickly overwhelmed with all the choices, and you may actually find yourself feeling stressed, trying to run from one program to the next.

Be sure to listen to your body and make time for yourself, even if that means skipping a few activities. The more you rest during your detox, the more the body can internalize its energy and go deeper into healing. As Daniel Reid says in the book Tao of Detox, ‘Save you breath.’

Try to spend at least one hour a day on your own, reading a book or listening to music, without talking to or engaging with others. Getting back in touch with yourself is one of the great benefits of doing a cleanse.

Powerful Affirmations

You can easily optimize your cleanse with your choice of thoughts and words. Be sure to spend a few minutes each day focusing on what you want to achieve as a result of doing the detox. Visualize yourself at home in a continued state of excellent health, high energy and balanced spirit.

Affirmations really help in training the mind to think positive thoughts. On the first day of your retreat, write 10 affirmations of things, people or feelings that you would like to have in your life. You can write them in the form, “I am…” or “I have…” Every day, spend 5-10 minutes alone, repeating your affirmations to yourself. You are creating an energy of success that the physical body will have to follow!

Some examples include: “I am healthy, balanced and strong.” “I attract positive, loving people and relationships into my life.” “I make the best choices for my health and my body every day in every way.” “I love myself and others love and support me too.”

After making a careful examination of your body, how would you describe it? Youthful? Aging?

No one can answer these questions more honestly than you. You are the one that can take charge of your life!

Let’s go farther than mere looks.

How did you really feel today?

Are you bursting with energy and vitality or do you have bothersome aches and pains?

What about your joints?

Are you stiff and sore?

Does your lower back plague you with pain?

How did you sleep last night?

Did you get up fresh and feeling alive?

Did you go to bed tired, yet unable to sleep?

Did you face the new day feeling energy-less, as if you had all the energy drained away?

How is your appetite?

Do you relish every mouthful of food you eat?

Do you have gas pains after meals?

What about your elimination? Is it perfect or are your bowels clogged?

Above all things, were you happy today? Yesterday?

Or are you depressed and blue?

Do you feel that you are ageing rapidly? Is life passing you by?
Can you honestly say, “I am getting younger as I live longer”?
Or will you have to admit that the longer you live, the older you feel?
Take this quiz monthly.

-from Paul C. Bragg

Healthy Glow Keeps You Looking Young

I love this anti-ageing test. It’s a great way to check in with yourself and be 100% honest with where you’re at. People often say to me that they are healthy and they eat really well, but once we talk further, their list of ailments starts to unfold. I often wonder, do they even know what healthy feels like?

Aches, pains, poor digestion, troubled sleep and unhappiness do not make for a healthy, youthful ageless glow.

You might experience temporary results with fillers, implants or botox, but these are short-term fixes to a long-term problem: toxicity and imbalance inside the body. An anti-ageing doctor should only be focusing on the foods you eat, your lifestyle and detox plan, not on outside creams or ‘magic cures.’

The compliments that I receive the most are always relating to my beautiful skin and bright, clear engaging eyes. 10 years ago on a SAD diet, no one noticed those traits in me, because my skin was dull and my eyes were puffy! What gave me a new-found youth was regular detox and a chemical-free, natural, whole food, plant-based raw food diet. Over time, my diet has improved even more, reducing olive oil and other oils to a minimum, continuing to refine as I learn more on my journey.

Are you older or younger than you feel?

Let Your Food be Thy Medicine

The secret to looking young and feeling young lies in the quality and types of food you eat. It’s that simple. Schedule your detox to give yourself a good ‘reboot.’ Make a plan for improving the diet and lifestyle after. The skin will improve, energy levels will increase and excess weight will be lost, once and for all! Be gentle and patient with yourself. Focus on love, joy, acceptance and on the all good in your life. Watch, and people will notice the positive change in you!

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Food for Thought

"If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

About

Jennifer provides Health Coaching & Iridology Analyses to clients, offers personalized private VIP detox, is a consultant to the top luxury hotels and spas in the world and is even a published author. She works to educate, motivate and inspire others on their journey of healing. >> Read More>

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Disclaimer

The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional or any information contained on or in any product label or packaging. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. Read full disclaimer here.